V-280 Valor VTOL Mockup Build

Fort Worth, TX - October 8, 2013 - Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company (NYSE: TXT), announced that the U.S. Army has awarded a Technology Investment Agreement (TIA) for the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Technology Demonstrator (TD) program to Bell Helicopter based on its Bell V-280 Valor™. Bell Helicopter's third generation tiltrotor design is on track to achieve first flight in 2017. "Team Valor is excited about Bell Helicopter's selection and TIA award for the JMR-TD. We look forward to working with the Army to demonstrate the superior capability of the next generation tiltrotor aircraft," said Keith Flail, director of Bell Helicopter's JMR-TD program. "The unprecedented speed and range of the Bell V-280's tiltrotor technology maximizes operational effectiveness for future military operations, and the Bell V-280 offers the best solution for the U.S. Army. Bell Helicopter's clean-sheet design and fly-by-wire expertise promise the Bell V-280 Valor will be a transformational aircraft on the battlefield." The Bell V-280 Valor presents the U.S. Army with the highest levels of maturity and technical readiness, with reduced complexity compared to previous generation tiltrotors. The Bell V-280 provides the best value in procurement, operations and support, and force structure, while delivering desired leap-ahead performance capabilities with increased maintainability, reliability and affordability to the DoD.